Improved device foe loading coal



DANIEL RISHER, JR., OF :DRAVOSBURQ PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters .Patent Nc.- 81,946, dated September 8, 1868.

IMPROVED DEVICE FORV LOADING GOAL.

@its tlgihule feierten tu in ilgtsi "te'ttcrs @anni mit uniting ritt nfthe same.

TOALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, DANIEL RISIIER, Jr., of Dravosburg, in the county ofAllegheny, and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Devices for Loading Coal; and I donhereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof. v

The coal-strata, on which great reliance is placed for supplies of fuel,in some sections of our country are situate on or contiguous tonavigable streams, whichA afford the means of transportation. In suchcases, the coal, when mined and brought to the river-bank, is loadedinto barges or boats by being tumbled down av chute, the barge beingplaced under the lower end of the chute. The barges, when full, aretowed to the place where the coal is to be sold or used. r

This mode of loading coal, especially soft or bituminous coal, is liableto several serious objections:

Among others, rst, the stage ofwater varying, between high and lowwatermark, some thirty feet, more or less, and the mining and loading, to beprofitable, being necessarily carried on atall seasons of the year, thechute must be so constructed as to dischargecoal into the barge,whatever the stage of water may be. Consequently the coal, when dumpedinto a barge at low water, has to fall some ten to twenty feet, more orless,'from the end ofthe chute, whereby it is broken and crumbled, somuch so as materially to reduce its market value.,

Also, as the chute is iixed, it can discharge coal into lthe barge onlyat one point. The coal-barges in use on our western' rivers are madebroad and long, so as to hold generally from ten thousand to twelvethousand bushels of coal. Generally one side of such a barge is loaded,thcbarge being allowed to drop down-stream to be loaded from end to end;the barge is then reversed, and the other side loaded in the same way.(rirreat diiculty is experienced in thus changing ends, especially asthe barge, when half loaded, weighs, say, two hundred and fty to threehundred tons, and until this is done, the work of mining is liable to beinterrupted.

These, vand other minor objections, I propose to obviate bytheconstruction of improved apparatus for load` ing coal into barges; andthe nature of my invention consistsi First, in discharging the coal, bya chute, into a coal-hopper, which is hung to a.` car, such car runningon an incline, so adjustable as to bring the hopper near to the levelofthe boat before dumping the -coal therein.

Second, in such construction of a hopper that its load may be dischargedfrom either end, whereby both sides of the barge may be loaded at once,and whereby the necessity of reversing thebarge is avoided.

Third, in so hanging the hopper by a rocking-shaft on the car as toadmit of its being tipped either Way.

Fourth, in so hanging and operating the hopper that it will beself-discharging.

Fifth, in the construction of devices by which the ho'pper may be madeto dump its load automatically from either end; and l Sixth, in the useof balancing-weights, in connection with such devices, for holding theinclined track at any desirable point of adjustment, and securingautomatically the return up the incline of the hopper and car whenunloaded. y Y

'lo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe its eonstruc-4 tion and inode of operation,referring by letters to the accompanying drawing, makinga part of thisspeci- .iicatiorn in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of a portionof my apparatus, showing the frame, incline, car, and hopper, andillustrating their manner of use; and y Figure 2 i's'like view of theapparatus, which, resting on the car, carries and operates the hopper.

A is any suitable base or foundation, built on the shore4 of a riverwhere coal-is to be loaded. B B are uprights, for supporting the frame CC( C, all which are of any suitable or convenient construction. Theframe C C is strongly built, and securely attached to its supports B,and its forward end extends out so as to overhang a coal-barge or flat,brought up near to the shore to be loaded. At its rear end, or leadingdown to it, is a coalchute, D, of the ordinary construction. VTo theparallel bars C, of the framework, by head-blocks E, or otherwise, ishung the rear end of the incline a, such incline consisting of paralleltrack-rails or bars, so made that a car or truck may run up and down orback and forth thereon. This incline a is made of any convenient length,and its forward end is raised or lowered by a rope or chain,-a, passingover a pulley, b, in the cross-bar C, and thence over one or morepulleys, b', to any convenient place, were vthe weight of the forwardend ofthe incline a is counterbalanced by a. weight, f.

On the incline ais a car or truck, consisting of a truck-frame, c', andwheels c, the latter being flanged, or otherwise so made that they willfollow'the inclined track a. Placed across the truck-frame c is arockingshaft, d', on each end of which is a bearer, al. llo thesebearers, al, by rods e, is hung the coal-hopper g.

The rocking-shaft al' is operated by a handle, z', which, being turnedeither way, rocks or tips the bearers d, and so tips the hopper gsuiiiciently to discharge its contents in the direction in which it istipped. The Vhopper g is made with 'a bottom concave or-sloping downtoward the middle, from the ends, which are open for convenience indischarging. The track a is pivoted to the frame C, at such point thatthe car may be run back far enough to bring the hopper g under the'lower end of the chute D, for convenience in loading. A rope or. chain,e', leads back from the car to a drum, h, around which it is coiled. Itsweight is counterbalanced, as before, by a weight, j', attached to acord, e7', eoiling around the same drum, 7L,'or around its axle, h. Apulley may obviously be substituted for the drum and axle. A screen maybe placed in the bottom of the chute D, to screen the coal as its slidesdown.

The mode of operation is then as follows: The lower or down-river end ofthe bar-ge to be loaded is brought under the forward end of the inclinedtrack a. This latter is then lowered down, more or less, according tothe stage of the water in the river, till it is near thedischarging-point, and there secured by additional weights, f, restingon a platform, or by supports, or other equivalent means. The car is runback till-its hopper g comes under the lower end ofthe chute D, the coalis tipped down the chute D into it, and the car, with its load, is thenrun down the incline c, to the proper point, and there unloaded intoeither side of the barge, by the use of the handle t', in the mannerdescribed. The weightf runs the car back for another load, and so oncontinuously till the barge is loaded. The barge m'ust bedropped downthe riv'er of course as its lower or down-river end is filled up. Inthis way I am enabled to load a barge with coal at any state of water,without lthe necessity of turning the barge, and withou'tthe lossincurred by the coal falling from a considerable height and beingcrushed, crumbled, or reduced to slack. v

But in order to make my apparatus more perfect in its operation, Iintroduce other devices, in fig. 2. As before, c represents thetruck-frame, d the shaft, d the bearers, andi the handle. From end toend of the car-frame c', and through a mortise in the handle z', I passa circular segmental guide, l. This is notched at several points, as at0,-and into these notches drops the locking-bar 0', which is pivoted atone end to the handle ,and at its upper end is raised, when desired, bya tripper, z", attached thereto, and extending down so far as to beconvenientlynoperated by some suitable projection attached to some ofthe stationary devices of ii 1.

glu order to shift the centre of gravity of the hopper g, so that itmayautomatically discharge from either end, as may be desired, I hangit, by clips m, to sliding bars m', such sliding bars m being soattached to the bearers d as to he retained in place, but have a limitedlongitudinal play thereon. 'Ihese bars, m', are moved .back and forth bya lever, n, attached to.bothbut slotted at the point where it ispivotedto one. By shifting these sliding bars m along the bearers d, thecentre of gravity of the hopper g, loaded or empty, may be thrown oneither side of the 'centre of suspension. The locking-bar o falls of itsown weight into any notch, 0,1;0 which it may be set. The handle z'cannot then be shifted either way, and the loaded hopper g, hung as thusdescribed, is carried steadily down the incline a, till the tripper tengages a tripping-projection, by which it is raised. The locking-bar ois thus lifted from its notch, and there then being nothing to prevent,the hopper y tips automatically in the direction of its heavier side,and discharges its load.

In this way the coal is dumped automatically at the desired point. Theweghtsff may be varied as the workmay require. Instead of a singletrack, a, a double track or incline may be used, in which the full cargoing down may draw up the empty one returning. i

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The mode of loading coal into boats, flats, or barges, by sliding thecoal down a chute intoa hopper hung to a car, and thence running itdownan inclined track to the boat, lat, or barge, and discharging it fromeither end of the hopper into the boat, flat, or barge, substantially ashereinbefore set forth.

2. The tipping coal-hopper g,y made with the bottom concave or slopingdown toward the middle from the .discharging-ends, substantially as andfor the purposes hereinbeforeset forth.

3. 'lhe tipping coal-hopper g, connected by bearers dwith arocking-shaft, d', mounted on a car or truck, substantially as and forthe purposes hereinbefore set forth. v

4. Slidingybars m', carrying a coal-hopper, so connected with thebearers d as that, by a slight longitudinal motion imparted thereto, thecentre of gravity of the loaded hopper may be shifted, substantially asand `.for the purposes above set forth.

5. A tipping-handle, t', attached to the rocking-shaft d of acoal-loading car, in combination with trippingdevices, constructed andused substantially as and for the purposeshercinbefore expressed.

In testimony whereof, I, the said- DANIEL RISIIER, Jr., have hereuntoset my hand.

' DANIEL RISHER, JR.

Witnesses n ELL "Torrance, G. H. CHRISTY.

